1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus including plural groups of air conditioners distributively arranged therein wherein each group consists of a plurality of units on the heat source side and a plurality of units on the utilization side located remote from each other (hereinafter referred to simply as a distributively arranged air conditioner group apparatus). More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus of the foregoing type which is constructed such that the apparatus includes a single common signal line for the purpose of simplifying the arrangement of control communication signal lines, and a control communication address specific to each unit is assigned to the unit in order to assure that there does not arise a malfunction that a controlling operation is erroneously performed even though control signals interfere with each other on the common signal line. Further, the present invention relates to a method of setting a plurality of addresses for an apparatus of the foregoing type.
2. Background Art
The conventional apparatuses of the foregoing type employable for setting communication addresses are typically noted in the following manner. Specifically, a first conventional apparatus of the foregoing type is constructed such that switches disposed for a unit on the heat source side and a unit disposed on the utilization side for the purpose of setting binary values or digital values are manually actuated as disclosed in an official gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication NO. 60-165452.
A second conventional apparatus of the foregoing type is constructed such that communication address setting is achieved at the time of starting of an operation of the apparatus by executing control processing with the aid of a control processing section involved in a microcomputer, i.e., a microprocessor installed in the microprocessor. This second conventional apparatus is intended to set addresses for control communication between a unit on the heat source side and a unit on the utilization side involved in a single group. In practice, this second conventional apparatus is constructed in the following manner.
Specifically, among a plurality of units on the utilization side in a certain group, one of them is preliminarily determined as a parent unit on the utilization side so that it is distinguished from other units on the utilization side. After a signal sending address is sent from the parent unit on the utilization side so as to set a communication address for the parent unit on the utilization side, address setting request signals are sent from the other units on the utilization side. In response to the address setting request signals, a communication address for a unit on the utilization side corresponding to an unused communication address sent from the heat source side is set within a predetermined period of time. This second conventional apparatus has been disclosed as a preceding invention invented by common inventors to the present invention in official gazettes of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication NO. 4-283341 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Application NO. 3-45104) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication NO. 4-288435 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Application NO. 3-49532).
In addition, as disclosed in an official gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication NO. 2-108399, the third conventional apparatus of the foregoing type is constructed such that a combination of photocouplers with switching elements is employed in order to serially arrange respective signals in accordance with the signal arrival time order so as to avoid a malfunction of signal collision arising in the case that a single common signal line is used for communication signal lines for controlling a plurality of groups in the above-described manner by properly regulating the pass of the respective signals.
As described above, with the conventional distributively arranged air conditioner group apparatus wherein a plurality of groups are arranged while each single group is composed of a plurality of units on the heat source side and a plurality of units on the utilization side located remote from each other, when control communication is made therebetween by setting communication addresses with the aid of the microprocessor, there arises a necessity for laying communication signal lines for each group by a length corresponding to twice extensions thereof. This leads to the result that a required length of signal lines corresponding to twice extensions thereof is elongated more and more as the distance therebetween is increased.
In the case that a distance between the units on the utilization side is set to be short for each of all the groups, there arises an occasion that communication signal lines extending between all the units involved in all the groups is composed of a single signal line, resulting in each wiring operation being simply achieved.
However, when the last-mentioned wiring process is employed, in the case that it is necessary that a communication address between a unit on the heat source side and a unit on the utilization side is set for each group immediately after the apparatus is installed or at the time of start of an operation of the apparatus, the foregoing communication address should be set while confirming that a heat source piping is laid for which group among a plurality of groups. In addition, since a communication address setting signal is sent also to a unit involved in other group, the apparatus should be handled so as to not allow this communication address setting signal to be received by the unit in the other group.
For this reason, to satisfactorily achieve a communication address setting operation, there arises an inconvenience that many operators should be employed for performing the aforementioned operations at a rate of one operator for each unit.